Like many before her, Gaye Lawrence travelled to the Northern Territory from Sydney with the intention of having a short working holiday.
Twenty years later she still lives in NT and is one of its most active advocates. Gaye is not only the President of the Community Government Council of Pine Creek, where she lives, but is the first woman Vice President of LGANT.
This year her work and commitment to the NT have been rewarded with the title of Territorian of the Year. Currently her work on Council and LGANT is combined with her full time work in administration at the local school, her hobby farm and work on the Pine Creek Regional Tourist Association and local National Trust.
With her son at boarding school in Katherine, Gaye says she can easily find the time to fulfil her multiple interests. “They are all very much interconnected,” she said. “Working at the local school gives me the opportunity to meet new families as they come to the town and help maintain a sense of community where much of the population is transient.
At the moment, Gaye says she is most passionate about promoting Pine Creek and achieving what is best for the town and residents through the creation of jobs and business opportunities. Her work on the National Trust Committee is focused on preserving the town’s historic buildings and maintaining the old world feel to the streetscape.
At LGANT she is proud to be the first woman to take on a position of power and feels it is good to have women represented at such a level. Local Government in the Northern Territory she says is dynamic and healthy.
“The Territory is going through a growth spurt and Local Government is playing a major role in developing new infrastructure,” she said. “The people I meet through LGANT show a vital enthusiasm for their work, the Northern Territory and all the people who live here.”
